Chelsea and Kobe

4. Art

A last minute photo after I decided that I didn't like the original photo that I was going to post.

This is a section of one of my own paintings, (not one of my favourites) that represents my family. Obviously an abstract painting that depicts 2 females (red) - myself and my daughter, and 2 males (blue) - my husband and my son.

3. Action

This theme could not have been more perfect for me today. It was a great opportunity to get some action shots of my son playing football.

Their team won their first game today and I think that this last photo just about says it all!!

This is the look of winning!

2. Abstract

1. DSLR

Finally, and about time!! I got my 1st DSLR - a Canon 400d. Ok a little bit behind, but it's a start.

I am so excited that I have finally got a dslr and I really don't know where to start. The options are endless and oh so daunting. I think that my learning curve is just about to begin, and where it will end is anyone's guess!!

30/365 The Glass Wall

At the front of the GPH EC Dept. Rather interesting feature wall.

29/365 The Weather Outside

I really wish that the weather would make up it's mind.

One moment it is as hot as anything and totally unbearable and the next it's raining and really not offering any relief from the steamy heat. If anything making it even more uncomfortable.

28/365 Mother - A Blessing

I made this photo frame for a work colleague when her mother suddenly passed away on Australia Day.

I thought that it would be a nice gesture and also a nice way to always remember that very special person who is no longer with them, but forever in their hearts.

A Mother is definately a Blessing and a Treasure!!

27/365 Green Frog

26/365 See No Evil

Unfortunately only one part of the trio. The other two missing in action!!

25/365 My Little Football Bear

During the week Kobi bought a note home about sign on for football asking if he could play. We decided that it was a good idea seeing as Chelsea did horse riding and Kobi did not yet have a sport or activity to be involved in.


Well all week all we heard is "have you rung up about football yet?" and "when is it going to be sign on day?" Finally Saturday arrived so off we went to sign Kobi up for football.


All signed up and money paid for the year now just to wait for the phone call to let us know when training will start. Training is to be Monday and Wednesday nights with games on a Sunday morning.


A definate hi-lite of Kobi's day was when purchased one of the old jerseys for him. He was thrilled to pieces. Now he was a real Browns Plains Bear and there was no stopping him!!

Can't wait until he starts. Gonna be on the sidelines cheering him on...Go Kobi!!!

24/365 Lilly

23/365 White

22/365 Birthday and Family

One of the things I like best when we have a birthday in the family, is that we usually all get together for that birthday. It is something we have always done. Nothing fancy or special, just everyone together for present giving and cake and coffee.

My sister and her husband decided to have everyone over for a bbq the day after my birthday to celebrate my birthday also. As usual presents given out, cake and singing Happy Birthday.

A scrumptious chocolate mud cake that the kids had to help dictate where the candles went...way too old for the normal amount of candles for your age, so instead 3 candles, a number zero, then 7 candles to represent 37. And of course laughing clown faces.

The kids love to sing happy birthday and then the girls fight over who is going to get the flowers from the cake. It happens all the time and luckily this time there were enough flowers for all the girls to have one each and even one for me.

A great day spent with the family....I would have it no other way!!!

21/365 My Birthday

How lucky am I. Definately spoilt I was!!

Look at all these lovely gifts.

E-Reader, Shire Saddlery voucher and RM Williams steering wheel cover from Richard, Chelsea and Kobi.

Beautiful big bunch of flowers and Coles/Myer voucher from the girls at work.

Hand cream and scrumptious cake from Claire.

Bottle of wine and choccies from the GRF girls.

Thank you so much to everyone for you thoughts and wishes for my birthday today. It is the things like this that makes the day even more special and means so much to me!!

Then a little bit of this tonight - Barcadi, lemon and lime (bacardi, lemonade and Bickfords lime juice cordial) Definately something new I must say, thanks to Adam from Hudsons who gave me this concoction.

And I must say after the week I have had this week, it certainly was one very good way to finish the working week!!

Think maybe just one more before going to bed.

20/365 Still LIfe - Food

Just another afternoon tea at work this week. This one to welcome back Megan from Maternity leave and thank you to Fiona for the fantastic job she did while in Megan's role.

Yummy food all round - beetroot dip, guacomole dip with crackers, carrot and cucumber sticks, cheese, nut and dried fruit platter. The beetroot dip is to die for. You have never tasted anything quite like it, yummo!! I think a favourite all round.

19/365 Boys and their Toys

Don't ask because I have absolutely no idea!!

Just something of Kobi's that I am sure only he knows what it is and what to do with it.

Boys and their toys!!

18/365 Repitition

17/365 Mt Tamborine

And another trip on Sunday - up to Mt Tamborine. It has been just as long since I have been up to Tamborine, and again somewhere that we have never taken Chelsea and Kobi.

We got up there at lunchtime so parked and had some lunch. Then we decided we would go for a bush walk. So for the next 1-2 hours we wandered throughout the rainforest. The kids were amazed. Here were sights they have never seen before. Huge trees fallen down, moss covered from the years of being there, bush turkeys and bats, and so many other interesting sights.

We stopped and watched Curtis falls for a while, took some photos and continued on our journey. I think that somewhere, somehow we went off track and the only way to get back on the track was to go across the creek.

Well after slipping and sliding through parts of the muddy track, this was going to be a little more interesting. So with Richard leading the way, it was off to rock hop across the creek to the other side. I must say I was a wee bit anxious about the kids crossing in case they slipped and fell in. But we managed to get across. A little bit wetter than we had been, but none the less, safely.

Back in the car and we headed up the mountain a little further to the look out at the top. This is the place I remember watching the handgliders. What a great view, although a little bit hazy. Kobi enjoyed pulling out his binoculars again and looking at all the houses below.

On the way down we stopped at Cedar Creek falls. We walked down to the area where everyone goes swimming and sat for awhile just watching. And yes, the idiots climbing the rock faces and jumping into the water were there, as usual. The kids were fascinated at this. They really wanted to go swimming too, but there was absolutely no way I was going to let them. As it was Kobi did slip in when he was feeling how cold the water was. Luckily it was only the shallow area and he just fell on his bottom. But if anyone, it would have to be Kobi.

Needless to say, we were all very tired when we got home around 5pm. I just cannot believe that Chelsea and Kobi managed to do such a long walk without complaining. But I must say we all had fun.

Another great family adventure. What's next....

16/365 Mt Cootha

This photo was taken at the lookout point at Mt Cootha.

It has been years since I have been up to Mt Cootha. I know that we have not been up there since we have had the kids. Richard and I used to go up quite regularly on a Friday night and share a plate of nachos.

It also holds very fond memories. This was where Richard proposed to me, with his lovely self-made cardboard diamond ring with the words 'I owe you a ring' written around the band. Was really quite cute!

Chelsea and Kobi couldn't believe we were going up a mountain. They thought it was great at the lookout seeing Brisbane City. Kobi had his binoculars and they were both quite fascinated at what he could see through them. However the big telescopes that you can view for $2 were even better. It bought everything much closer and clearer.

So just as it got dark we ordered some dinner. Chicken nuggets and chips for the kids and, yes, you guessed, a plate of nachos to share. A great night had by all!!

15/365 Photography Bible

This is just one of the photography 'how to' books that I quite often refer to. It is great for information and has some really fantastic photos.

I don't know how many times I have had actually referred to this book or just sat and looked through it. I don't think that you can ever really learn too much!

Too bad I don't own it, and thank you to my friend for letting me borrow it. It shall soon be back in your hands, safe and sound.

14/365 Spot of Colour

DPS Weekly Assignment.

Colour has a big impact on where our eyes travel in a photograph. Bright and/or light colours draw our eyes right to that area first and often that spot becomes the most important in the image.

For this assignment the aim was to take a shot that has one area that commands your attention with colour that is brighter than the rest of the shot.

It was not a selective colouring exercise, but something that was more colourful than the rest of the image

13/365 Don't forget to Lock the Gate

12/365 Back to School today

And don't they just look so excited to be going back to school.

Chelsea is going into grade 5 and Kobi is going into grade 2.

How grown up are my babies!!!

11/365 All ready for school

10/365 A Bug's Life

8/365 Radio

This one should have been before the "Eyes" theme. Oh well!!

9/365 Eyes

A different take to the theme. These are Kobi's googley eye glasses.

Tree of Life

Oops missed a day.

This picture was taken one day as Chelsea and I were on our way home from horse riding. We decided to take a drive up some of the side streets just out of interest.

This tree caught our attention so I stopped on the side of the road and took a few pictures of it. Chelsea calls it her Tree of Life.

7/365 Blue

Daily theme - blue.
Now how inviting does this lovely cool blue water in our swimming pool look. So refreshing.

The kids have really enjoyed swimming in the pool while they have been on holidays on the days that the weather has allowed them.

What better way to spend a hot summer day!

6/365 Work

Daily theme - work. And boy does this create work, especially now since my husband has just gone back to work after having leave after christmas. And soon enough the kids go back to school, so even more of it.

Ironing must be one of the very worst jobs that a woman (usually) has to do. I absolutely hate it with a passion.

Post editing - black frame and added negative effect.

5/365 Brand New

This photo was taken and entered into the DPS weekly assignment "Brand New".

This is just one of the brand new baby birds in their nest in a tree in my back yard. We have been watching them each day and it is just lovely to see them grow bigger by the minute.

I'm sure that they will be ready to fly and leave their nest soon.

Photo taken 15/01/2011

Kodak Z740 Digital Zoom

Aperture F/7.1

Shutter speed 1/125 sec.

ISO-100

Focal Length 63mm

4/365 Water anyone....

These are all the bottles of water the kids filled up ready in the case that the water was contaminated from the sewarage and undrinkable.

Well I guess you can't say that they weren't preparing for the worst.

Anyway I think that enjoyed doing it as they felt like they were helping out in a bad situation.

3/365 Blue Skies - A Sign of Hope

Let's hope this fantastic sight, a beautiful sunny, bright day, all day on Thursday 13th January 2011 is one that will stay around for a long time.

Looking at this lovely blue sky who would have thought that just 2 days ago, looking up at the sky was quite a different and bleak picture. And one that had bought with it such devistating results.

At least while the sun is out and shining, it might give people the chance to start on the long, hard job of cleaning up so they can start living their lives to some sort of normality again.

2/365 Is that the Sun?

This is what Brisbane woke up to on Wednesday morning the 12th January 2011.

The sun peeping out from behind the clouds, it's first appearance after days of torrential rain which has caused flooding throughout Qld almost as bad as the 1974 floods. And has seen 3/4 of the state declared a disaster zone.

In my whole life I have never seen anything like it and hope to never again. I don't think I have ever watched so much TV or listened to so much news as I have these last few days. Always waiting and watching for any little update on this crisis.

The water broke the banks of the Brisbane river and was expected to rise to 5.5 metres at the next high tide, which was bigger than the 74 floods.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their residences into emergency evacuation centres and the power was cut for safety reasons, while Brisbane spent a slow an agonising night in wonder of what was to come the next day.

Thankfully the river only peaked at 4.46 metres. But this did not mean the end of it all. The flood waters had slowly been continuing to rise and continuing to do more even more damage to homes, business's and anything in its path. A mass of destruction everywhere you looked.

This is something that I am not going to forget in a big hurry and I just watch the devistating stories of destruction, loss - homes, business's and lives, and it is so heartbreaking. I don't think I could even begin to imagine how these people feel, having lost so much or everything.

1/365 The Challenge

Well here goes, another attempt at the photo a day challenge.

Just have to think ahead and have a bit of an idea for the day ahead in order to take a photo for any given day.

Here is my first for 2011 which shows the date I am giving it another go.

Photo taken 11/01/2010

Happy New Year

Fairly early on New Year's Eve, and the kids were having a great time.

They played basketball with Daddy, went swimming and best of all they played with the sparklers.

Chelsea and Kobi just love sparklers and that was all they wanted me to buy for them for new year's eve.

You would not believe just how hard it was to get sparklers during the day on new year's eve. Definately a party essential and nowhere had any. I think that I went to just about every shop in the centre that I thought would sell them, always getting the same response, "sorry we have sold out"

It looked a bit bleak and I thought sadly of how disappointed my babies would be when I came home empty handed.....no sparklers!!

I stopped into the corner shop on the way home, thinking definately will not find any sparklers here, but thought, hey, it's not going to hurt just to take a look. To my surprise they had quite a few packets and it looked as though they were not going to sell out of these sparklers.

But these were not just any ordinary old sparklers.....these were star shaped sparklers. Yes these are mine, as I grabbed a couple of packets, took them to the counter and paid for them.

The first thing I was asked when I arrived back home, with arms full of shopping bags, was not 'hey would you like some help' but instead 'did you get us some sparklers?' Oh the suspense when I did not answer, but continued with the shopping into the house with both of them hanging off me begging and pleading to find out if I actually had their sparklers.

I slowly slid my hand into one shopping bag, then another and another and finally pulled out the packets of sparklers. Oh the look of excitement on their little faces was enough to know that my searching was indeed well worth it, even if at the time I didn't think so.

They thought the star shaped sparklers were absolutely fantastic, and no sooner that one went out they were begging for another and another.

Need some inspiration!!

Finding it just a wee bit hard to find some inspiration for my photo a day challenge. The creative juices just don't seem to be flowing!

I take my camera with me almost everywhere I go and most of the time it doesn't even make it's way out of my bag. My intensions are there however it just doesn't evolve. Then before I know it's the end of the day, usually late at night, and I think about how I haven't taken my photo for the day. By this time I am usually tired and cannot think of anything interesting around home to take a pic of.

I think I need to start my day with a plan and at least an idea of what I want to take a pic of for that day.

So today I will gather some ideas and write them done and put together some kind of action plan.

Look for my 1st photo later today and the start (finally, just a wee bit late) of my photo a day challenge. Oh well, better late than never!!